Part 1: Early Islamic to Pre-colonial era

Week 3: The Ottomans (15th-16th centuries) Emergence of Ottoman Empire

“ISLAM: EMPIRE OF FAITH”

Episode -- ‘The Ottomans’:

rise of empire up to and including the reign of ‘Suleiman the Magnificent’

[excerpts shown in class] Emergence of Ottoman Empire

Ottoman ‘Empire’: 14th Century (1350) Ottoman ‘Empire’: 15th Century (1451) Emergence of the Ottoman Empire Emergence of Ottoman Empire

timurid1405 Mamluks: c. 1400 Mamluks

• “Mamluk” meaning ‘owned’:

• slaves taken by rulers Middle East &North Africa

• trained as soldiers for armies, administration

• widely used Mamluks

- 13th Century Egypt: Mamluks replaced Sultan:

- leader ‘Baybars’ married Sultan’s wife

- brought uncle of former Sultan from Baghdad to Cairo (1260)

- established Caliphate

- Caliphate did not last long in Cairo but power in region remained in Mamluk hands Mamluks

- 1517: conquered by Ottomans (Selim I):

- Mamluks left in control of administration

- ‘province’ of Ottomans

- Continued to support administration through incorporating slaves

- Re-emerged as ‘semi-autonomous in 19th century Emergence of Harem: 14th Century

• ‘Era of Osman’:

• marriage strategic, crossed tribal and religious lines

• high degree of symbiosis religious conversions [both Christian and Muslim]

• sharing of traditions, ideas, institutions

• Nomadic, warrior ideologies ‘Frontier Society’

• [see ‘Document: Ibn Battuta’ in Additional Reading] Emergence of Harem: 14th century

• Story of Melik Danismend (Turkish), Artuhi (Armenian) and Efromiya (Greek woman) :

• central plot has Efromiya, convert (retaining non-Muslim name) and female, fighting as a man against her own father

• Story from Book of Dede Korkut (early chronicle):

• Kan Ruali (Turkish, Muslim) loves daughter of tekvur (Byzantine Christian)

• they end up together, she saves his life

• no indication she converts Osman’s Dream

• “Osman’s Dream: For Early Ottomans, history of their empire began with story of Osman and the Shaykh [video]

• First recounted in late 15th century, long after Osman’s death

• Dream said to have come to him while sleeping in house of traditional holy man (shaykh), Edebali Osman’s Dream

• Upon awaking, Osman spoke to the shaykh:

• “…I saw you in my dream. A moon arose from your breast. It rose and rose and then descended into my breast. From my navel there sprang a tree. It grew up and turned green. It branched out and got complicated. The shadow of its branches covered the whole world.

• What does it mean?” Osman’s Dream

• A second version differs slightly: the tree simply ‘sprouted’ and its branches ‘encompassed the world’:

• “Beneath this shade there were mountains, and streams flowed forth from the foot of each mountain. Some people drank from these running waters, others watered gardens, while yet others caused fountains to flow.”… Osman’s Dream

• And the Shaykh replied:

• “Osman, my son, congratulations for the imperial office [bestowed by God] to you and your descendants, and my daughter Malhun shall be your wife.”

And with the marriage, he legitimacy of the dynasty was established: Islam was ‘united’ with the state Osman’s Dream

• Osman exemplified successful frontier beg (leader): power underpinned by network marriages, alliances

• established allies, raided neighbours

• married daughter of revered shaykh (who was also dervish)

• allied with powerful ‘wonder workers’ (dervish were sufi, branch of mystical Islam)

• son married daughter of tekvur , Christian Chief of local village who served as scout and important political ally Mehmed II: ‘the conqueror’

• 15th Century: conquest characterized Empire under Sultan Mehmed II:

• Began ‘Ottoman’ practice of fratricide

• “And to whomsoever of my sons the Sultanate shall pass, it is fitting that for the order of the world he shall kill his brothers. Most of the ulema allow it. So let them act on this.”

• Response to concern over civil strife that threatened empire at death of each sultan – issue of ‘succession’

[same ‘issue’ shaping emerging role of harem, see below] Mehmed II: ‘the conqueror’

Ruled 1451 - 1481 Emergence of Harem: 15th Century

• 15th century: century of conquest

• War provided slave women

• Given as wives to: royal clan, administrators, provincial governors

• Gradually replaced traditional system ‘strategic’ marriages

• ‘The harem’ grew, occupied increasingly important place in system: concubines, children (boys and girls), attendants (slave servants – including eunuchs) Emergence of Ottoman Empire

Mehmed II 1451-81

Selim I 1512-20

Suleiman 1520-66 Conquest of Constantinople 1453

Mehmed II Entering Constantinople

[19th C. European Painting] Conquest of Constantinople 1453

Breaching the Walls

[19th C. European Painting] Conquest of Constantinople 1453

Ottoman Renditions:

Breaching Walls (left) Entering the City (below) Emergence of Harem: 15th Century

• Conquest of Constantinople (1453): critical watershed in relations with Europe

• Personal ‘ties’ used to integrate European territories

• Herzegovina: Lord of the Realm converted, served as Grand Vizier under Mehmet’s son (Bayzid II), married Mehmet’s daughter

• Byzantine Eastern Colony: Daughter of ruler entered Sultan’s Harem Emergence of Harem: 15th Century

• Conquest of Constantinople (1453): critical watershed for Empire itself

• Yielded large number slaves and other wealth

[see ‘Documents: ‘Fall of Constantinople]’ in Additional readings]

• Became new capital of empire; increasingly urban, ‘sedentarized’

• New Palace “yeni sarayi” buitl (c. 1460 – late 1460s?): named ‘Topkapi’ 19th c. Topkapi Palace: symbol of ‘new’ Ottoman State Topkapi Palace: Symbol of new Ottoman State

Site of ‘Eski Yarayi’ – ‘Yeni Yarayi’ – Old Palace New Palace (later Topkapi) Emergence of the Harem: 15th C.

• Under Mehmet II: (1444-6; 1451-81):

• Court moved to New Palace [hereafter ‘Topkapi]

• harem remained housed in ‘old palace’

• ‘Queen Mother (valid sultan) resided with harem Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

• Era of ‘The Sedentary Sultan’: Suleiman ‘the Magnificent’ (1520-66)

• ‘watershed’ : ‘pinnacle of empire’ [video]

• also turning point in terms of Sultan’s role, behaviour

• As ‘expansion’ of empire by conquest gave way to ‘consolidation’, successors (Selim II, Murad III, Mehmet III) preferred withdrawal from direct governance, warfare

• increasingly Sultan remained in Istanbul, Topkapi Palace Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

- For example, Murad III (1575-95): ‘Patron of the Arts’

- first commissioned portraits of sultans to illustrate historical texts

- significant: Sultan depicted ‘on his throne’, rather than on horseback

- reflected new vision of Sultan’s ‘sedentary’ role

- centered power firmly in palace Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

- Changes in court life even under Suleiman:

- moved significant part of harem, including attendants and servants, into Topkapi Palace (probably by 1534)

- brought about important changes: in power, authority of harem vis-à-vis Sultan Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

• Once in Topkapi, grew in size: • under Suleiman, numbered 49

• under Selim II (c.1575) more than 70

• ‘older’ women moved back to Old Palace

• Topkapi harem ‘retired’ to Old Palace on death of Sultan

• By 1600: • Topkapi harem housed 275 women

• Old Palace harem, 298 women Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

• Palace Harem:

• extended Royal Family: ‘active’ concubines, mothers of royal children, valides sultans – said to be 80,000

• many married to janissaries, ‘suitable men of state’ –most being of slave or devshirme origins themselves: manumitted, given dowry

• Valides sultans seldom married

• became influential centres of their own courts Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

Suleiman’s Hurrem Sultan – “Roxalana” -- played major role: Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

• Suleiman’s Hurrem Sultan – former concubine, “Roxalanna”:

• from western Ukraine: captured by Crimean Tartar slave traders, sold into royal Harem, Instanbul

• became Suleiman’s ‘favourite’: gave birth to Mehmed, becoming ‘haseki’ (mother of a prince)

• potential challenger to Suleiman’s first son (with now- displaced haseki), Mustapha Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

• Broke with Tradition: • Received more than four times the ‘salary’ of other haseki

• ‘one concubine – one child’ was norm to avoid earlier fraternal struggles over succession: she had four more sons and a daughter between 1522 and 1531

• Also ‘illegal’: according to Islamic law, once concubine is umm walad, she has special status – no longer ‘slave’ therefore no longer eligible as concubine

• Usually removed herself with prince when sent to ‘provinces’ to train and await possibility of acceding to throne (as Suleiman’s first haseki did with their son Mustapha): Hurrem spent life at court with Suleiman Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

• Broke with Tradition: • Hurem was freed, then married (by contract) to Suleiman 1533-4

• Received huge dowry (5,000 gold ducats annually), "grand apartments… 100 servants, clothes worth 100,000 ducats”

• Said to have assured that potential concubine competitors (the most beautiful) were rapidly married off and out of harem: Suleiman monogamous: “unheard of for a Sultan”

• Took valide sultan’s role on death of Suleiman’s mother Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

• Broke with Tradition:

• (Pierce explains): role of ‘mother to the Sultan’ and ‘mother of the Prince’ kept distinct -- occupied by different women any given moment. Clearly identified where ‘loyalties’ lay.

• Also true of Sultan: ‘love’ (loyalty) was to be guarded solely for his people – hence there should be no ‘wife’ to challenge that commitment. Concubines were to be many and were intended to produce potential heirs to the throne. They were well looked after as ‘mothers of princes’; one would become ‘valide sultan’. Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

• Broke with Tradition:

• Hurrem challenged whole system by moving from haseki to wife to (effective) valide sultan even as the ‘intended’ valide sultan was playing out her role with Mustapha in the provinces Emergence of Harem 16th C.

• Also married her daughter to Pasha:

• Originally captive: converted, became trusted Grand Vizier

• With daughter married to Grand Vizier, had basis for developing own ‘dynastic/political faction’ within the court

• unheard of for ‘simple slave girl’ Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

• Broke with Tradition: • Not trusted by Ottomans (of all classes): fed rumours of use of sorcery to ‘bewitch’ Suleiman

• Sorcery or intrigue to arrange for deaths of: • Grand Vizier Ibrahim (‘Greek Convert): had been taken prisoner himself, brought up as page in court, became close boyhood friend, adult courtier, trusted military leader, enormously wealthy

• Suleiman’s first-born son Mustapha: in partnership with her son-in-law, ‘framed’ him with equivalent of treason (assisting Suleiman’s principle enemy, Safavid Shah) with goal of having one of her sons take the throne upon his father’s death. (Bayzid, Mehmed having died) Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

• Broke with Tradition: •

• Domestic rumours fed European response: ‘Roxolana’ became favourite of European literature, important aspect of ‘imag(in)ing the Ottomans’ [next week]

[see ‘Roxolana: introduction’ in Additional Readings] Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

• Broke with Tradition:

• made harem more ‘visible’

• Hurrem advised in political affairs, domestic and foreign

Letter: Hürrem Sultan to Sigismund II Augustus congratulating him on accession to the throne (1549).

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roxelana] Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

• Made Harem more Visible:

• active programme supporting (traditional) charities: built Haseki Hurrem Sultan Mosque (1538-40)

• medersa (Qu’ranic school),elementary school, soup kitchen, hospital, fountain added to Complex (1540-51)

• Built by Suleiman’s royal architect, Mimar Sinan – in Istanbul (unusual)

• Also built hamam (baths) near Aya Sophia (very prestigious) Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

•

1. Mosque 2. Qur’anic School 3. Primary School 4. Kitchen (?) 5. Soup Kitchen (serving/eating area) Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

•

Hasseki Hurrem Sultan Mosque, Istanbul Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

Hurrem Sultan ‘Bath’ complex, Aya Sophia Square (Istanbul) Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

• Also built foundations throughout major cities of empire: most well known is Jerusalem 1552: imaret (soup kitchen)

• said to have fed 500 people per day (students of medersas, dervishes, poor ‘needy’)

• constructed as ‘waqf’ (‘religious trust’ [see ‘Haseki Sultan waqf complex…’, Resources ]

• Complex consisted of: • mosque • pilgrim hospice (55 rooms) • inn for travelers. Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

Entrance to Haseki Sultan ‘imaret’, (soup-kitchen complex), Jerusalem Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

• Made Harem more Visible:

• According to one story [Yermolenko, Add’l Rdgs]: used desire to ‘do public good’ and be recognized for it as leverage for manumission

• More likely to have been part of ambition to acquire more power whether as haseki or umm al-walad Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

• Selim II (1566-74): Nurbanu Sultan

• concubine “wife” [not free therefore not ‘married’ by contract]

• no agreement on origins (noble Venetian? Daughter of Spanish Jew? Greek?)

• (like Hurrem Sultan) took active role in foreign affairs: corresponded with ‘Most Serene Republic of Venice, Queen Catherine de Medici (France) Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

Nurbanu Sultan and Sultan Selim II Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

• Architect Sinan ordered by Nurbanu to build Atik Valide Mosque and Kulliye (complex), Istanbul

• complex built around mosque composed of: • Medersa • hosptial and medical centre • place for sufi retreat (mystical brotherhoods) • inn to serve travellers • Hamam

• completed, put in commission end of 1583 Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

Atik Valide Mosque and Kulliye (Istanbul) Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

• Her son, Murad III, became Selim’s successor (brothers executed)

• She then took official title of ‘valide sultan’ (Queen Mother)

• Was paid highest salary in the empire

• Along with Murad’s favourite concubine (haseki), dominated court/family affairs Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

• Murad III (1574-95): • concubine: Safiye Sultan – Albanian birth

• following death of Nurbanu and as mother of Mehmet, she became ‘haseki sultan’ and continued to exercise exclusive power

• after 1595 and Mehmet III’s accession to throne: became official valide sultan with authority that entailed Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

• Murad III (1574-95):

• exercised significant political and economic influence:

• supported Grand Vizier in court politics

• Said to be ‘partial’ to the interests of Venice in foreign affairs, trade

• her lady-in-waiting (of Jewish background) was blamed for economic problems at time and poisoned Emergence of Harem: 16th C.

Valid Sultan (centre) with others of Harem [note Chief Black Eunuch at far left] Suleiman ‘the lawgiver’ (Kanuni)

Unified Islamic legal codes (sharia) and customary practice/law (kanun) The Harem 15th-16th Centuries

• Role of Religious and Customary Law: Pierce • Article explores emergence of ‘harem’ as domestic space (in contrast to ‘Imperial’ institution)

• Notes key ‘moment’ 15th-16th centuries between rule of Mehmet and Suleiman

• Evolution of ‘kanun’: often called ‘customary law’

• Pierce argues compilation of laws by Sultans and legal advisors more than that: ‘mediation’ between sharia (religious law) and customary, local law

• “kanunname” were frequently revised: reflection of social change The Harem 15th-16th Centuries

• Two main themes:

• Kanunname meant to give ‘normative status’ to variety of practices and prohibitions, remembering nature of rapidly growing empire: establish sultan as ‘law of the land’ and ‘defender of God’s law’

• In this context, moved from concerning itself mostly with laws about illicit contact between men and women as defined by sharia to defining ‘protected domicile’ including sons and slaves as well as wives and daughters – the responsibility of male householder (‘the harem’ in all but name) The Harem 15th-16th Centuries

• First Kanunname: followed Mehmet II’s conquest of Constantinople

• Meant to reflect new empire, new religion, new authority

• Much attention to criminalization of religious prohibitions: especially concerned with adultery, fornication, slander

• Section called ‘zina’: under Mehmet, short 12 statutes (by Suleiman’s time, expanded to more than 36!)

• Men and women equally responsible for their actions; penalties assigned according to wealth and class The Harem 15th-16th Centuries

• • “In its sexualizing and policing of space, speech and body, the Kanunname increasingly evoked the ideal of the harem (although never using the word) – a domestic regime that forbade visual and verbal as well as physical contact between strangers and dependents of the male head of household, and that put responsibility for the collective honor of the family on his shoulders and in his hands” [Pierce] The Harem 15th-16th Centuries

• Bayzid I: shift to focus on administration rather than expansion

• Included Christians and Jews ‘law of land for everyone, not just Muslims’

• Developed siayset: role of state

• ‘Fierce’ laws regarding illicit sexual contact The Harem 15th-16th Centuries

• Castration for man who abducts ‘girl or boy’

• State will kill man caught in adultery (wife remains in hands of husband – attempt to mitigate excesses of honour killing?)

• One who marries woman abducted to person who abducted her to be punished (beard cut off) – common in tribal societies

• No consideration that ‘abduction’ may be consensual

Pierce notes contrast: in crimes defined by religious law, men and women ‘equally’ responsible; in those of customary law ‘gender asymmetry’ (women not held responsible) The Harem 15th-16th Centuries

• Selim I: sexual crimes more threatening, penalties raised • Expansion of people for whom man responsible: not just wives but daughters, sons, slaves implicated in all sections of zina

• Women no longer ‘public’ criminals (disappear from statutes)

• Men made responsible for women’s adultery: forced to pay fines if wife not divorced [‘cuckolding fine’]

• “the husband has been put in charge of the wife” The Harem 15th-16th Centuries

• Sons who play ‘role of slave girl’ responsibility of father

• Man to be punished for having sexual relations with wives’, daughters’ slaves (but not his own or his son’s): significant penetration of ‘law’ into intimate domestic space The Harem 15th-16th Centuries

• Three Main Trends: • Focusing on both perpetrators AND victims, expanding ‘group’ of victims (daughters, sons, slaves): female accountability almost vanishes ‘it’s a man’s world’

• Introduction of homoerotic sex as criminal act but NOT in and of itself – it gets introduced in the context of other acts (breaking into domicile with intent to commit sexual act, abduction, sexual molestation on the street)

• Emergence of ‘the family’ (the domicile) as both unit of vulnerability and accountability: MALE now empowered over his dependents BUT also responsible: pays fines for them AND his own behavior is more restricted within that household (and he pays higher fines) The Harem 15th-16th Centuries

• Suleiman ‘Kanuni’: • Revisions complete c.1540 – remain more or less unchanged for over century

• Most conspicuous for incorporation ‘customary’ law (speaks of Dulkadir, Mamluk in particular)

• Number of crimes in zina and siasyet grow significantly

• Women again given responsibility for their adultery

• Men allowed to take honour killing into own hands IF the community is witness to it (made public) The Harem 15th-16th Centuries

• Sodomy identified as criminal, part of zina; penalties follow those of adultery

• Wives and widows re-appear as ‘responsible for own acts’

• Husbands still charged ‘cuckolding fines’: have gone up (as has divorce)

Pierce: argues not seeing return of female autonomy (in spite of number of statutes that reference women’s sexual criminality) so much as Suleiman’s attempt to ‘re-introduce’ the gender symmetry of sharia to laws that have been overly influenced by customary practice The Harem 15th-16th Centuries

• Burden of defending household still on male but now his own sexual activity further restricted (significantly) by criminalizing of sodomy

• ‘public laws’ restricting male/female interaction increased: reinforcing earlier religious fatwa that defined the ‘respectable’ woman

Pierce: ‘what this [evolution of law] reveals is a society shifting from one in which masculinity clearly defined as military, sexually adventurous to one in which it is defined in its responsibility to household – ‘the harem’

In this sense, the harem not an ‘oriental formation’ but rather an evolving phenomenon in context of expanding empire, negotiation between religious and customary laws